LAHORE: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Saturday that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is running a malicious campaign against institutions.
Addressing a press conference in Lahore on Saturday, he appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Umar Ata Bandial to form a full court bench to investigate into allegations levelled by former prime minister and PTII chairman Imran Khan.
Shehbaz Sharif said that he would also write a letter to the CJP and make sure that the government would extend its full support, and even he is ready to appear before the apex court.
Condemning the assassination attempt on the former PM, he said that Imran Khan was driving the nation towards anarchy by propagating an agenda based on lies, adding that the PTI chairman is a liar and dishonest from head to toe.
He vehemently rejected the allegation levelled against him by Imran Khan of his involvement in the attack on his long march container, saying that neither he nor the two others being blamed by the PTI chief have anything to do with it.
“I do not have the right to remain [in my position] for even one second if I or others have any role in this conspiracy,” the prime minister said.
“If there is even some minor proof against me, I will leave politics for forever.”
“I request the chief justice to form a full court commission with all honorable and respectable judges for the greater interest of this country and to end this discord and chaos,” the prime minister said.
PM Shehbaz said that the same JIT could probe into killing of senior journalist Arshad Sharif to establish truth and find out who benefitted from the tragic incident.
On a question, he said that he would immediately hold a meeting to mull action against the ex-PM for leveling allegations against a military official.
At the outset of the presser, the premier condemned the assassination attempt on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan. But, he said that Khan was driving the nation towards anarchy by propagating an agenda based on lies.
Several video clips of the PTI chairman containing his contradictory statements were also played during PM Shehbaz’s press conference.
He said that Imran Khan was shouting insults at Pakistan Army and government without any evidence because his agenda remained unfulfilled.
PM Shehbaz said that it had been five years since the Panama controversy came to the surface but nothing could be proved against the Sharif family and courts pleaded them not guilty.
He said that Imran Khan wanted the deployment of retired judges in the accountability courts to reap verdicts of his choice by pressurizing the jurists.
The premier recalled that a trial court acquitted him in the Model Town massacre case.
Talking about the assassination attempt on the PTI chairman, he said that the federal government had shared threats of attack with the Punjab government where the PTI is in power.
PM Shehbaz said the Punjab government should be questioned on the lack of security at the PTI rally, not the federal government.
He offered to step down the next moment if Imran Khan provided evidence of his involvement in the attack.
The premier asked why Imran Khan rushed to Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital (SKMCH) after getting shot instead of a government hospital where his medico-legal formalities had to be carried out.
He said the PTI chairman traveling to SKMCH which was three hours away instead of a public hospital had raised many questions.
He said that Imran Khan must ask Punjab government why the first information report (FIR) of the incident had not been registered so far.
PM Shehbaz warned that there would be complete destruction if the nation voted him to power.
